The telecommunications industry currently installs filled cables in aerial applications. These filled cables typically include a multiplicity of individual conductors. In addition, a filled cable includes a filling compound which saturates the cable's core, surrounding the individual cable conductors. Extended thermo-plastic rubber (ETPR) represents one common example of such a filling compound, but other examples, such as a compound known by the acronym PEPJ, are used as well. The filling compound is a chemically inert substance which serves a valuable role in excluding moisture from the cable to reduce cable deterioration, lengthen cable life, diminish interruption of telecommunications services, and minimize maintenance.
However, a filled cable additionally exhibits undesirable characteristics due to the use of a filling compound. For example, the filling compound is a solid, but exceedingly slippery, material. So long as a cable remains undisturbed, the filling compound does not fall from the cable core at a cable opening. However, when a cable is terminated, when two cables are spliced together, or when a cable is spliced to repair damage, the filling compound tends to flake-off the individual conductors of the cable due to handling of the individual conductors. Cable technicians and the general public face a potentially hazardous condition when the filling compound falls on ladder rungs, platforms, manhole floors, sidewalks, or other surfaces. In addition, the filling compound may settle on underlying cars, shrubs, fences, and the like to pose a clean-up problem for persons splicing or terminating a cable.
Consequently, a device and procedure for preventing this hazard and clean-up problem are needed. One undesirably expensive prior art device which addresses this need employs a collapsible, integrated unit which suspends a tray having a disposable liner beneath a cable being spliced. Filling compound and other cable waste materials then fall harmlessly into the tray for later collection and disposal. While this approach tends to suitably catch and retain the waste materials, it is too large and too inflexible in positioning the device around a cable for successful deployment in the field.
Specifically, the integrated unit approach of this prior art device causes it to be undesirably bulky so that it is difficult to transport to a work site and difficult to attach to an aerial cable. Moreover, this prior art device allows no horizontal and vertical adjustments relative to a cable on which it is installed. Often, multiple cables are suspended in close proximity to one another. A cable to be spliced may be located over, under, beside, or between other closely spaced apart cables. The lack of adjustments and the device's bulky size prevent the device from being usable in many of such situations.